Only one day after the contract was made, Maria Steinfeste died of her sickness, taking with her the only reasonable excuse Stein Brevmore had for extracting blood samples from the Flock siblings.
The contract was not voided, though, and for an additional three years, nothing changed in the small world of the casino.
Ezra was still the second in command, only now he was practically a father to his own sister, spending a substantial part of his time just looking after her.
He taught her to walk, to talk, to steal, to sing, to dance, and even explained his past and their present.
The three years passed just like that, shadowed by the looming threat of Stein's fickle mind and the constant anemic exhaustion, yet relatively peaceful.
However, when his sister turned eight and he turned fifteen, something began to change around the black market.
More and more high-profile guests began visiting Brevmore's office, hushed voices quietly discussing war designs.
He was not privy to any of that information; however, he could understand enough to know that he would be the cause.
Using resources far beyond what Marco Kroan or Otto had, his newest captor had reverse-engineered a product that used Ezra's genes to make objects resistant to mana.
Of course, it was imperfect, a total blockage of mana seemingly impossible, but even a partially effective ability to negate the mystical lifeblood of the universe was enough to rouse feathers across the underworld.
Word of privatising the market to sell this resistant material for armor production had begun to circulate, even the rumors making the boy sick to his stomach.
I'm an accomplice in the next generation of warfare… Ain't that a thought…
Groaning, he heard Abigail's light steps as she entered the room, her eyes finding Ezra's before addressing him in a quiet yet energetic voice.
"Big Brother! They've announced that Marshal Camilla Buckley is hosting an exam upstairs in the city! You should go join!"
Rolling his eyes, he patted the girl on the head before responding in a whisper, wary of listening ears.
"Pack your bags. We're leaving this hellhole."
Her eyes widened, her mouth drooping slightly at the words she heard.
"L-leaving?"
There was audible confusion in her voice, but she did as she was told, grabbing some clothing and the black scarf her mother had left behind.
About thirty minutes later, they left their room, passed through the casino, and reached the exit to the black market.
Abigail had never seen the surface with her own eyes since they had brought her over; therefore, as the gates opened, allowing them to leave, she gasped with excitement.
'It's the sun! Look, Ez! The sun!"
Ezra froze, the nickname that he hadn't heard for years making his entire body spin in turmoil.
"Abby… How about you call me Ezzie instead?"
Looking down at the girl, he noticed a sad look on her face as she nodded and mumbled something under her breath.
"That's a terrible nickname…"
…
"Sir, we've received a report that Ezra hasn't brought in his blood sample and that he's fled the black market."
At the entranceway to the casino, the greeter spoke into a radio linked directly to Stein Brevmore, informing him of the situation.
As he spoke, he heard a theatrical sigh come over the line, followed by an order, the words of his boss clear and concise.
"Just summon Scorpion Squad and have them deal with it. Tell them to bring at least one of them back to me alive."
The radio disconnected, and the greeter immediately dialed the mercenary group hired for security via the casino's human trafficking ring.
As soon as the connection was established, he relayed the orders given by the boss.
"Keep one alive at all costs. Kill the other."
Adding a flair of his own, he hung up, returning to his position to welcome the customers who came to gamble.
…
Reaching an abandoned warehouse, the two siblings broke inside, finding a place to relax after their grueling sprint through the city.
Abigail, who didn't fully grasp the situation yet, beamed with excitement, all the new things she had seen in the past hour being foreign to her.
"There were crowds this big, Ezzie!"
She stretched out her arms wide, showing the great volume of people she had seen, which brought a slim smile across her brother's face.
"You've gotta rest now, Abigail… It'll only get tougher from here. Our goal is the Sea of Souls, to find some remote island and lie low for a while. That's the only place we'll really be safe."
The girl nodded, walking over and taking a seat beside her brother, where she promptly closed her eyes, her mind instantly fading into sleep.
She ain't ever done this much before... If this was already rough on her, pushin' her any further could get her seriously hurt…
Dreading the possibilities, he closed his own eyes, drifting off into the world of dreams where he could imagine a peaceful life, far from the violence he had lived through.
Yet, not even an hour after he fell asleep, he awoke to the cold feeling of metal pressed against his forehead, his heart tightening as he realized that the warmth of his sister's body had disappeared from his side.
"Hahaha! Kid, you're the easiest sucker in the world to find!"
A heavily armed man stood a few steps before him, laughing with glee as he held a gun to his sister's head.
The sight alone made Ezra's eyes narrow into fierce slits, his hand reaching to draw his own weapon without hesitation.
"No, you don't."
The man who held him at a gun's end, standing slightly to the side of him, pressed the barrel even more forcefully into his forehead, a smirk twisting his face—just as the faces of the remaining seven mercenaries that had surrounded him, including the one who threatened his sister.
"W-what do you guys want… I have money if you—"
He stopped, slowly realizing what was happening.
"Stein sent you, didn't he?"
The man before him, likely the captain of the bunch, gave an unhurried nod, and a grim look came over the black-haired boy's face as he stared down at the ground.
"Now listen, kid. I'll make this easy. You don't put up a fight, and we let you die quickly. If not, then a slow agonizing end is in sight for you."
Abigail tried to scream, but the man's hand covered her mouth, preventing her from doing so.
Then, he bared his crooked teeth in a savage smile and gagged the girl with a piece of grayish cloth.
In Ezra's mind, the same scene that had haunted him for years flashed once more—Bradley's corpse falling in front of him, his lifeless eyes staring back up, right into his own.
Closing his eyes, he made a silent prayer to whatever god he could muster up the courage to wish to.
Then, risking everything he loved in this world, he kicked the shin of the closer man hard enough to break bones, causing him to bend over with a scream and drop the gun that had threatened Ezra's life.
The abandoned space quickly descended into chaos as Ezra pulled a weapon of his own, firing and killing two of the mercenaries instantly.
The captain fled along with his sister, while the other men engaged in a firefight with the boy.
Bullets rained down from all sides, forcing him to flee behind a crate, the smell of gunpowder filling the warehouse.
Hearing their attacks cease as they reloaded, he popped out, shooting one of the enemies in the torso and another in the arm.
Both men instantly dropped their weapons as they shouted for backup.
Cocking his gun, he heard a terrifying click, the same one he knew from his training—the sound of an empty weapon.
Dammit! Out of ammo…
Taking a deep breath and listening carefully, he heard the voices of the men setting up automatic weapons behind the crates opposite to his.
So this is it…
Closing his eyes, he prepared for the barrage of bullets to obliterate his body, ending his horrific existence without a moment of peace.
I lived a god-awful life, and I'll die one too… All because of this damn curse…
The very curse inscribed onto his body by the God of Dreams for the sins of his ancestor, the thing that made him a prime target of all the villains across the seas.
Feeling the last breath of air enter his lungs, he heard the metal click into position, the sound of a deadly mechanism warming up entering his ears.
Maybe they'll free Abigail in a few years…
Knowing how impossible it was for that to occur, he could only resort to his oldest method of emotion management.
Lying to himself.
It had allowed him happiness for years, and now, in his final moments, it would offer him solace once again.
Trying to detach himself from the cruel reality, he locked away his mind, sensing the approaching end, yet refusing to fear it.
"Damn god can't even let me die in peace…"
BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG!
Dozens of bullets were fired almost at once, and the boy closed his eyes as he waited for them to strike.
Yet, after over a minute of waiting, there was nothing.
The sound of the people behind him was also gone, as though they had left.
Slowly opening his eyes, he looked down at himself to make sure he was still alive, and after confirming he was, he turned around slowly.
Glancing around the crate's corner, his eyes widened, and his jaw dropped, the sight before him so unbelievable that he wondered if he was dreaming.
Taking a step forward, he gazed upon the corpses of the mercenaries and their destroyed machine gun.
Something had malfunctioned, causing it to fire in all directions except for Ezra's, making him the sole survivor.
The chances of that are…
A faint sparkle below the weapon caught his eye, a strange circular shape glowing a radiant turquoise, making him squint.
Bending over and picking it up, he noticed an image plastered across the front.
Engraved on the smooth surface, there was an image of an old man who seemed to glow with the power of the sea itself.
For once in his life, Ezra Flock, the boy cursed with a blessing, finally experienced what it felt like to be one certain thing.
Lucky.